A Jordanian student at La Roche College who failed to register with other men from mostly Muslim countries yesterday was freed from federal detention in York after the government abruptly dropped its insistence that he be denied bail.

The surprise move was greeted with relief by the college and the attorneys representing the 21-year-old.

Abdelqader K. Abu-Snaineh, who had been in custody for nine days, could still be deported for missing the deadline for special registration covering men from 25 nations set up in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement classified him as a high "Level 1" risk, and said bail could be granted only by an immigration judge, who was not expected to hear an appeal for bond until Monday.

But Abu-Snaineh, who's known as "Abed," was summoned from his cell in York County Prison on Tuesday night and told by a bureau official that the situation had changed, his lawyers said yesterday.

"All I know is what Abed told me last night, that a district director called him down to his office at 7:30 and said they had re-evaluated the situation and were changing the no-bond [status] to a $1,500 bond," said Witold Walczak, legal director with the Pittsburgh office of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Abu-Snaineh along with private counsel.

Bureau officials yesterday confirmed the move but would not say what led to it.

"Our position is that it's our prerogative at any time to review any case and make a re-determination if there should be bond," said Amy Otten, a spokeswoman for the bureau's eastern U.S. region.

"We're pleased that he's going to be getting out. We're still upset that he spent [nine] days in jail and there's no indication that they are giving up on their intention to deport him," Walczak said.

He said the ACLU had received calls from around the nation about Abu-Snaineh and speculated that may have played a role in the government's turnabout.

Bureau officials "may have realized they had a public relations disaster on their hands," Walczak said.

Monsignor William Kerr, president of La Roche, posted bond for Abu-Snaineh, who has completed his junior year.

"I wired a bus ticket and some money for dinner because apparently when he's released they take him to the bus terminal and that's as far as they take him," said Ken Service, executive vice president of the Pacem in Terris Institute, a La Roche program that offers four-year scholarships to students such as Abu-Snaineh from struggling nations.

On Tuesday, Service called the detention an overreaction to a mistake the student made and had voluntarily tried to correct on May 30 by seeking advice from a college administrator.

Service said the student explained he had forgotten to register by the April 25 deadline and that the administrator, unsure what advice to give, called the bureau but did not expect it to result in the student's arrest.

Bureau officers came to campus 11 days after being notified and took Abu-Snaineh into custody, Service said.

The case is being watched by organizations including the America Immigration Lawyers Association and the Arab American Institute. Though more than 13,000 men who submitted to the special registrations face deportation for various visa violations, Abu-Snaineh was one of the first to be picked up solely for missing the reporting deadline, those groups said.

"The penalties for administrative oversight should not be deportation and imprisonment without bond," said Jean Abinader, managing director of the Washington, D.C-based Arab American Institute. "It's not criminal behavior. Make the punishment fit the crime."

But Lance Payne, a bureau spokesman in Philadelphia, wasn't about to apologize for a program to keep track of foreign visitors.

"On 9/11 there was criticism that we didn't know who's here," he said.